Education Week contributing writer Bryan Toporek brings you K-12 sports coverage that reaches far beyond box scores. He has written about education for Education Week and Education Week Teacher, high school sports for the Falls Church News-Press in Virginia, and is currently a Quality Editor for Bleacher Report.

The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health sent out warnings on Friday to alert schools of the risk of a skin herpes outbreak for any wrestlers who competed in the state tournament at the end of February.

Five members of a high school wrestling team in the state contracted herpes gladiatorum, according to the department's press release. Potential cases of the virus have been reported in other schools, and the department is investigating.

"We all must be diligent in preventing the spread of communicable diseases through visible open lesions," said state schools Superintendent Jorea Marple in the press release. "It is vital that athletes with open lesions do not participate in practice sessions or sporting events."

According to the Associated Press, the herpes gladiatorum virus is highly contagious, spread by skin-to-skin contact, and could result in lesions on the face, head, and neck.

The Bureau of Public Health warned schools that new cases of the herpes virus may occur in exposed wrestlers through at least March 10, if they haven't already. The department urged coaches and physicians to be watchful of symptoms in their student-athletes, and to report any further outbreaks immediately as to prevent the further spread of the disease.

Categories:

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.